Atlantis Arising [M] [Most Original 4Q '11] [Best Veteran 1Q '12]

[Swolligator]

Jeremy Kyle - Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

Jeremy's food left his mouth at a high velocity, spraying over the table as Archie asked if Fletcher was his child. He cracked up laughing at the thought that he would even have a child at his age, much less Fletcher whom Jeremy would have had to have when he was around twelve. Fletcher didn't react as much as Jeremy had though, only stopped eating his sandwich and merely stared quietly at Archie.

"No, he's not my kid," Jeremy reiterated if his reaction wasn't enough of an indication, "his brother is like one of us, and just on an assignment for...." Jeremy paused, noticing Fletcher beginning to move uncomfortably in his seat, "...a little while."

Tears welled up at the corner of Fletcher's eyes and a shimmering blue forcefield was conjured up in a bubble around his body; passing cleanly through the table. "He's dead," Fletcher mumbled under his breath as the forcefield began to solidify further becoming more visible yet still retaining it's transparent blue pigmentation.

"You don't know that, Fletch, he's alive!" Jeremy tried, but Fletcher seemed adamant that his brother was dead and with the amount of time he had been away, Jeremy didn't blame the kid.

Fletcher put down his half eaten sandwich and pushed his chair back, running out of the room; his forcefield knocking items aside making Jeremy sigh. He was going to have to run after the kid soon, but he would wait a bit for Fletcher to calm down so his voice would be more influential over the seven year old.

"Sorry you had to see that, Archie," Jeremy apologised, "his brother is a really touchy issue." Jeremy took a bite of his apple before continuing the conversation, "So, what's your story?"​

 

[Skymin]

Julian Morales - Picadilly Square, London, England

"Oh, no no, help yourself," with a smile and a nod, Julian took the seat opposite and joined the teenager (were 19 year olds teenagers in the eyes of the law? Maybe post-teen was the better word. "Lovely weather out today, huh?"

"Indeed," Julian turned to the sun which shined behind him. "Uncommon in London, especially during the Winter. I was admiring it myself not too long ago. But now I have this coffee to admire." He took a sip. The girl had put a sugar in it, just like he had asked. And it was was almost perfect. It was just a touch strong. Still, it was very good and ranked in his list of 'top ten coffee'. Why Julian didn't come here more often was a mystery. Did it taste like this last time?

Julian turned back to Leo, his smile still beaming.

"I don't think I introduced myself," Julian leant forward, stretching out his arm across the table and offering a handshake. "My name is Julian Morales. What's your name?"​

 

[Kikpanther]

Jericho Heiko: Syndicate Break Room, Somewhere in England

Jericho hardly heard the loudspeakers past his own exhaustion. He lifted his head, looking up at the large observation window where the scientist stood. He couldn't recall his name right now, neither did he care to. He was in pain and he was tired. The scientist said something about a doctor, but as soon as Jericho heard it he'd practically forgotten it. Damn he was tired...

It seemed like everything was finished, though. The participants grabbing their clone balls or whatever and carrying them out of the training room. Jericho grabbed his and forced himself to his feet, using as much energy as he could muster. His legs shook on the way up and his body hurt from moving. Managing the task, he hauled himself to the out of the training room, though slowly. Up the stairs and inside he placed the orb on the table, though not before looking for a trashcan to throw it away in. His clone didn't need to be reserved for another time. That thing was garbage. Then again, if he'd thrown it away, he wouldn't get the chance to kick its ass.

Jericho was the last to receive help from the healer whose name escaped him. He closed his eyes while the doctor worked, trying to catch some early Zs. Man he just wanted to go to sleep. Jeri smiled as the aches, pains, and bruises sunk away. His fatigue lifted, the healing relieving his fatigue. However, the accelerated rate made him hungry. Really hungry. Really fast. By the time the operation was over his stomach felt empty. It growled loudly and he groaned.

"Just a side-effect," the doctor said with a smile, giving Jericho a pat on the back. "There's plenty to eat in the break room. Eat what you need."

"Gladly," he groaned again, hurrying into the break room. His much wanted entry was stopped by the sudden exiting of their youngest member Fletcher, and not in a calm way either. The kid was just in a hurry to get out as Jericho was to get in. He raised a brow, asking himself what the problem could be. The moment was fleeting however, his stomach reminded him of more important matters. Entering the break room he could see both Jeremy and Archie at the table, while Leon occupied himself at the fridge. Archie and Jeremy conversed at the table, but Jeri didn't get much of it before Leon began spouting at the mouth. He pouted, shouting something about pears and fridges. Jericho made, annoyed that he was subjected to hearing, but the tantrum lasted only a short while before an apple was settled upon and the fridge was made available.

Jericho took the spot in front of the fridge and looked inside, scanning the contents before picking out a variety of ingredients to create a large sandwich. It was during the birth of his hunger-sating sandwich that the cackles of the same Italian came bursting into the sound barrier. Jeri frowned. What was up with this guy? Maybe his clone hit him to hard, or the doctor's healing was slowly giving him brain damage. Then again, he'd only known this guy for--what?--two days? He was possibly schizophrenic. While Jericho made a brief deliberation over Leon's mental status and found his seat, the mentioned Syndicate member re-entered the room, still thinking whatever he found funny was hilarious. Leon found himself a seat at the table and rested his feet on top, exclaiming something about he was "the only one" or something.

Jericho looked up from his sandwich, which he had yet to enjoy the taste of. "Amazing," he said to the self-proclaimed lone ranger, feigning his own enthusiasm. "Now that you've enlightened us with your fantastic revelation--please--shut the f*ck up." Jericho let his eyes travel back down to his food, taking the bite that had been delayed long enough. It really was a pain when a nice meal was interrupted by the obscene vomiting of noise and disturbance by one or more of the people that you must unfortunately make acquaintance with.

 

[Sir Bastian]

Leo Archibald
Picadilly Square, London​

"Indeed. Uncommon in London, especially during the winter. I was admiring it myself not too long ago, but now I have this coffee to admire." As the man had said this, he took a sip from his coffee. Leo decided to do the same, letting out a soft sigh. It was definitely good coffee, but he agreed with the stranger. It was pretty odd for the weather to be this good in England, especially at this time of year. Leo had spent a couple weeks here a year or two back, and it had either been pouring, hailing or the wind had been blowing like crazy.

He shook his head a little and sipped from his coffee again. It was about as warm as the weather right now. Again, kind of odd. That was when the man decided to introduce himself, reaching out to shake his hand. Leo smiled lightly, about to reach out his gloved right hand to give his hand a shake, but caught himself as he realized that was the hand with the mark on it.

"Better safe than sorry" was his motto of the week, and he reached out with his left hand, smiling back at the man as he returned the shake semi-firmly. "I'm Leo Archibald. Nice to meet you. So… what're you doing here? Just passing through, or…?"

 

[Skymin]

Atticus Forsberg - Heading towards Italy

There was light chatter between the six of them; Atticus spoke about how, when he was fifteen, he started parkour just in spite of his parents but didn't get very far, Annie secretly had a thing for knitting and one of Emil's favourite bands was actually Metallica and ACDC despite all the classical music he listened to. Devon however, kept quiet, silently smiling at everyone's ridiculous hobbies from the corner.

"Did you know Atticus used to be a cop?" Annie said, giving the man a light punch.

"Annie--"

"He was a good one too, for the five years you were there. That's where you learned how to fight, wasn't it?"

"... Yes," Atticus made a face. Annie knew as much as everyone else how much he really didn't like talking about his past.

"Did you ever," everyone seemed to turn around when a noise was made from the corner. Devon had finally opened his mouth, "did you ever kill anyone?"

Atticus didn't answer immediately, staring at Devon for a few moments. Annie slunk back into her chair, her eyes switching between the boy and the man.

"Devon, that's a terribly rude and personal question," Emil shook his head at his son. "Apologise to Atticus immediately."

"No, no, it's alright, Mr. Bernot," Atticus shook a hand at Emil. "Yeah. Yeah, I did, Devon. It's a horrible feeling. I didn't want to do it, but I had to. To protect the ones you love, sometimes you gotta make sacrifices. But nobody should ever get a power like that, to choose if someone has to live or die. It's... it's not up to us."

It was silent for a moment, until Annie spoke up.

"That's terribly profound of you, Atticus. Did you take you philosophy pills this morning?"

"Hey, shut up."

"Excuse me, everybody," Cooper's voice came over the speakers. "But we'll be landing soon. So everyone should buckle up. I promise our take off will be smoother than the last."​

Adeline "Otto" Russo - Fiuminicio International Airport, Italy

"It seems our friends have landed," the Librarian seemed to say so suddenly, standing up and breaking the silence. He pointed out the window at a private jet which had just come in to land. He ushered everyone to their feet and walked them through the gates and down the hall to the outside. There, outside of the plane, was a man who looked to be in his late thirites or fourties, wearing a nice suit. He was similarly dressed to the Librarian, but the Librarian was a lot younger looking. Younger looking, but not actually younger. As far as Adeline knew, the Librarian was over two milleniums old.

"Emilio Bernot!" the Librarian opened his arms and embraced the man and patted him on the back. "It's so good to see you. How are you? How is young Devon?"

"I am great, Devon is great, we're all great. How are you doing... uh, haha, what are you going by today?" Emilio gave a grin, giving the Librarian a light slap on the shoulder.

"Well, yesterday I was James," the Librarian stroked his goatee. "Today, I am Oliver!"

"Oliver was last week."

"You are too right, Adeline! Hm, perhaps today I am... Cornelius. Yes, I haven't used that name in a while," the Librarian gestured a hand towards his guests. "This is Cira Gaile, his father Alexander and my apprentice and assistant, Adeline Russo."

"I am Otto."

"Ah! Another with a nickname!" Emilio gave a laugh. "You would get along swimmingly with Devon. Anyways, it is very nice to meet you all, I am Emilio Bernot. Please, come inside."

He led them inside, Natalia taking a seat behind Atticus and the rest standing awkwardly in the doorway as Emilio introduced them all.

"This is Helena, Annie, Atticus, Nikolai and my son, Devon. Cooper is in the cockpit at the moment," if you listened hard enough, Devon corrected his father from the back with a skulky 'It's Evo.' "Everyone, this is Alexander, Cira, Adeline, oh, sorry, was it Otto? Otto and my very good friend, the Librarian," Emil gestured to each person with their respective name.

"Please, call me Cornelius," the Librarian gave a wink to Cira and invited himself in, taking a seat at the front near Emil with Adeline sitting opposite him.

"Now, please," Cooper's voice came over from the spearkers again, "take your seats. Next stop, New Atlantis!"​

 

[moon]

HELENA ANDERSSON

So they had gone to pick up some more AUP members? Helena wondered how many there actually were around the world. And how many Atlanteans in total there were. She hadn't been overly interested yesterday, but even though she still felt a bit uncomfortable about flying to another country right after breakfast, she was beginning to get a little curious about the Atlantean people... her people. But not the people of her parents, or brother. Whom she couldn't even contact now. Or maybe she rather shouldn't contact them. For their own safety. There were more Atlantean groups out there, apparently.

But these new people were with them, at least judging from how Mr Bernot greeted them. And Natalia was with them; Helena had been wondering. But she trained with Helena until late yesterday, so she must have gone to Italy overnight! Maybe they had a teleporter somewhere in the AUP... or maybe she had just had her own airplane or something. Nothing would surprise her anymore. Helena shook the matter out of her mind as Mr Bernot introduced them all to each other. The librarian? Maybe he managed some history archives or something for the AUP. He looked... actually Helena couldn't put her finger on what he looked like. He didn't seem to be much older than herself, though. A goatee sat on his chin and the face wore a confident and content expression. Cornelius. The name fit him.

The other girl he was with looked really strange. Like one of those people that Helena would avoid in Stockholm if she could. One of those trouble makers. Not that Helena would ever judge someone completely based on their looks. She always gave people a chance before she formed a real opinion on them. So instead of worrying about all the strange tattoos and piercings, Helena smiled at the girl when Mr Bernot presented her as Otto. The kind of natural enough smile that Helena would put on as soon as a customer entered the gym back home.

"Now, please," Cooper's voice came over from the spearkers again, "take your seats. Next stop, New Atlantis!"

It took a few seconds before Helena understood what she had just heard.

"New... Atlantis?" she asked, turning around to Atticus and Annie and anyone who would like to comment. "Is that just the name of another base, like the headquarters or have you actually, like, built a new Atlantis, haha." She felt that the little laughter at the end was necessary. It was a kind of ridiculous question after all.​

 

[Swolligator]

Zachary 'Zac' Willard – London, England

The foot lashed out before Zac had any time to notice it, catching him around the heel and sending him flying forward. The books and his hands flew out as he tried to stop himself facepalming into the floor; pages flying all over the atrium of the National Science Museum. Teenagers sniggered as Zac pushed himself to his knees, collection his books and pages back together. He could taste a small trickle of blood in his mouth where his snake bites had dug into his gums.

"Nice tattoo, freak!" Someone called from behind him.

"Such a copycat," Someone else said loud enough for him to hear, "he should just go die."

Zac forced back the anger that boiled up inside him, tears welling up in his eyes instead as he felt the combined hatred of his classmates wash over him like a wave. Ever since the day the twin snake tattoo had appeared twisting up his arms, people had given him more grief for trying to be Atlantean. They didn't know the pain he had suffered as the dark marks burned itself into his skin, they didn't feel the rage, pain and anger fill his every being as he became Atlantean. Yet they were right, to this day he hadn't even shown any signs of an ability manifesting, so maybe they were right, maybe he was just trying to be something he wasn't.

But what was he? Zac continued to ask this question to himself, torturing himself over and over again. His classmates had no trouble beating him down for being different and making him feel less than human, but now they wouldn't even let him be Atlantean.

"No you don't," came a voice from one of his tortures as he reached for a piece of paper. The foot of the torturer twisted the paper apart as Zac looked up into his assailants face, grinning down evilly at him.

"Why, why do you do this to me?" he pleaded, the tears in his eyes increasing.

"Why do you look and act like a freak?" he replied bushing Zac back to the floor.

Zac crumpled to the ground, rolling into the foetal position as a kick caught him in the shins. This was only one day of many that Zac endured from the bullies at school. He wanted it to stop, through sobs of sadness and cries of pain he pleaded for them to stop, yet no one intervened. Teachers were out of sight, female students hurled abuse and male students joined in on the bullying. Today was one day too many.

The ink stung the day it had burnt into his flesh, but now the pain from it was ten times as worse. Yet this pain didn't hurt, rather it made him angry, fuelling the pent up rage he had for those that bullied him. With a roar of pain and anger, two bone protrusions launched out of his back from his shoulder blades, knocking his bullies back. Zac could feel them and in all the confusion it finally dawned on him exactly what he was; Atlantean.

"I hate you all!" he roared at the children around him as they stood still in shock and awe at his newly formed bone protrusions. The energy fed from his pain and anger made him feel even more alive than ever before. It was like he had tapped into a deep well of energy that made him feel better, strong, faster. His fingernails began to grow and enlarge until three centimetre long claws curved at the end of each finger. The more he tapped into his Atlantean ability, the more powerful he became and changes he felt.

One of the bullies got to his feet, punching Zac square in the jaw with another 'freak' remark, only to find Zac unharmed.

Laughing maniacally from pain and the pleasure of the energy, he raked his claws across the bullies face; the wounds bleeding profusely from deep gashes. Zac pushed his ability further and the skin around his jaw line bulged, eventually giving away and tearing apart to reveal a scaled jawline that stretched from the top of his sideburns, following his jawline down and around to the opposite side. The power consumed Zac entirely and finally he felt powerful and in control.

People around him screamed and bolted for the doors as a guard nervously hacked at the phone trying to call the police. Casually, Zac approached the man, launching himself and impaling the man on his claws. Chocked blood flowed freely from the man's mouth agape in surprise and pain.

"Hello….?.....Sir, are you there?.....What is your emergen-" the phone was cut short as Zac slashed the phone line with his opposite hand before removing the impaled attendant from his claws. He sprung onto the reception desk, watching the chaos and panic around him, laughing maniacally.

"No one can stop me!" he yelled.​

Stephanie Butler - Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England.

With Michael busy training with his sister and enemy, Stephanie had nothing to do but roam the halls and shadows of the Atlantean Mansion. The place was quite lavish, and it's history of being an old boarding hostel made it feel much like being back at school all over again. However the students here were far from your average high school students, and much more interesting too. With her ability to manipulate her pheromones, she subtly pursueded people through her scent that she was not there, or just another random student, making exploring the place much more exiting and exhilarating. Already she had learnt about over a dozen abilities; the funniest being a fat kid who's burps and flatulence became a force to reckon with as he propelled people with these burst of fowl air from his bowels.

But this place paled in comparison to the Syndicate's Headquarters. Where the Syndicate was high security, technology savy and individualistic, this place was run on morales, teamwork and a nice, friendly atmosphere. Stephanie could definitely see herself living here at some point in the future. For now, she merely scoped out the place, keeping herself well hidden. If it wasn't for the door though, the strange, unfamiliar door with the weird writing on it, Stephanie would probably have wanted to live here. Behind that door, she could hear muffled voices; one deep and Asian sounding, the other raspy and old. Sneakily, she opened the door, creeping through into the musty room.

On a cushion in the middle of the room sat an old lady, eerily old, and a middle-aged Asian man sitting before her. She listened in as the lady looked off into the distance, muttering words like destruction, chaos, anger and pain. The man continued to pay attention, not noticing Stephanie's presence a few feet behind him. The lady continued, rattling off a list of names until one made her spine shiver; Michael Cale.

'London's eye see's destruction, Lucifer on earth. They all gather; the prophecised, the recruited, the unified. Soon, it happens all too soon. They must gather, events must occur, destruction, betrayal, hate and anguish. Atlantis rises as the blood moon wanes. Thunder rains down on the earth. Smoke obscures sight. People hidden in shadows.'

Her body once uptight slumped to the ground as if the act had exhausted the poor old lady. Stephanie was shocked at what had just happened; not knowing what to do. She watched from her shadows as the Asian man stood up, brushed himself off and reached for his phone.

'Thalia, Oracle has prophecised. Blayze and River's groups are needed.' He clicked the phone shut as he left the room.

Scared, Stephanie waited for a few minutes making sure the so-called Oracle didn't see her before leaving. She needed to tell someone about this. And fast.​

River Beleren - Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

River stood up, stretching her arms and legs, getting ready for another round when Cobalt appeared in the doorway with his signature stern look. For him to come and disrupt the training, it must have been important, so River beckoned the group closer.

"What's wrong, Cobalt?"

"Oracle just made a prediction. Your team and Blayze's. Thalia's gone to collect Blayze's team, follow me so we can give them the briefing on their first mission."

"Geez, Cobalt, they've barely been here twenty-four hours, I highly doubt they are ready to face a mission"

"Oracle predicted. They're needed."

Without a further world, Cobalt turned around and walked down the hall.

"Okay guys, sorry to cut training short, but it looks like we're needed," She smiled enthusiastically, trying to keep their spirits up, but deep down she knew they were not ready for this. She just hoped the Oracle was right and that she wouldn't loose this team like her last one....

She beckoned Christian, Antonia and Chrysta to follow her and Cobalt, arriving in the meeting room ahead of Blayze.​

Michael Cale - Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

Michael watched Blayze head for the Mansion when he was stopped in his path by a mysterious, tiny tornado. When it stopped spinning, a hippy looking lady stood looking up at Blayze, talking to him rather rapidly and motion to the three of them behind him. After much delegation, she zoomed off again in a gust of wind, and Blayze began to backtrack towards them; a stern, almost angry look on his face.

"You three, follow me." Were his only words before turning on his heels and heading for the Mansion one more time.

Michael looked at Oakley and Kieran, but they new just as much as he did. Nevertheless, he followed Blayze with the others, climbind up the staircase inside the mansion and being taken into a much larger room than the class rooms. A larger, oval, wooden table took up the centre of the room with chairs scattered all around it. At the front of the room and head of the table stood Cobalt with River, Christian, Antonia and Chrysta sitting fairly closely together; Antonia next to Christian and cuddling into his arm, while River sat two seats down towards Cobalt with Chrysta a seat behind Antonia and Christian.

Blayze entered and sat almost opposite River at the table, leaving Michael to sit a seat behind him while Kieran chose to find a seat at the back of the room.

"This is all a new experience for you, and I'm sorry that this is so soon," Cobalt started when everyone was seated, "but they way things work around here is how it is. Yesterday you met the Oracle, our Prophetess, who tells us when people are needed for future events to happen. In the next couple of hours, she mentioned some sort of demon will attack London city, and that you two teams are meant to be present." Cobalt cleared his throat, "as such, we will fly you by helicopter to London where you will hopefully meet your task. Be warned; this is not a training exercise, this is a real situation and running in by yourself will only get you killed."

"Sorry to interrupt," Blayze popped up, "but Michael's actions this morning have proved he is incapable of mature decisions. I suggest that he stays behind while the others go on ahead, so he can realise the full consequences of his actions."

"That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" River spoke calmly, despite being annoyed at Blayze's decision that he hadn't consulted them on.

"No, it's not," Blayze retorted, "if it was any other student, they would be faced with the same response. Just because he's new doesn't mean he's off the hook."

"I'm afraid Blayze is right, River, it's a fair enough punishment. As for that, I bid you all luck, and may the light of the universe protect you." Cobalt hurriedly left the room in order to take care of other business.

"Blayze, he's always going to take your side!" River said angrily, "You're being too-"

"River, I'm not having this arguement now," he interrupted her, "guys, we'll be flying by helicopter, so get ready and meet us on the rooftop helipad in ten minutes."

Everyone else got up to leave except Michael who sat sulking in his chair. It was unfair that Kieran was a part of the same situation that landed him in this predicament; but in the end, he couldn't do anything about it.

Ten minutes later and Michael heard the familiar whirring of helicopter rotor blades, leaving the room to go have a look at what was going on. Once outside, he watched as Blayze and River along with Oakley, Kieran, Christian, Antonia and Chrysta entered the helicopter; never guessing that there had been a helipad above his head all the time he had been inside.

Michael turned his attention away as the helicopter lifted off, watching instead as Cobalt returned to the meditating student he identified as Brian. He waited for Cobalt to finish with the student before he approached Brian who seemed somewhat 'not there'.

"H-hey, I'm Michael, you are?" He offered his hand to shake as a greeting formality.​

 

[Lt. Col. Fantastic]

Garrett Flynn - London, England

"No no no no. Dude you're doing it wrong. Hand it over."

Garrett stuck out his hand, waiting for his classmate Jon to give up the cube. He had been trying to impress some girls by solving a Rubik's cube. John reluctantly let go, dropping it in Garrett's hands.

"Look, instead of doing 4 Down left up rights, bring in around like this and do a down right up left, much faster. And when you insert the edge pieces on the second layer, it has to line up with the same color first, then away up back down opposite up back down. See?" Garrett demonstrated the right algorithms.

"Uh....thanks..I guess."

John's lady friend laughed and gave him a hug. Garrett gave him back the cube. As John reached out, someone screamed from inside the museum.

"Is that an exhibit, or something?" asked Garrett.

"I don't know......I'm gonna check it out..." John sounded absent minded when he said this as if focusing on his cube. He started towards the museum. More screams and some fleeing workers finally caught Garrett's curiosity. Garrett climbed the steps, and more people ran past him. When he and John made it to the top, they saw Zac with his.....claws buried in a security guard's stomach.

"No one can stop me!" Zac yelled as he cut the phone lines.

Holy sh*t. This is really happening.....Zac must be Atlantean too! So he's like...a dragon morpher? Or a dinosaur? I guess that's cool. Wait, no! This isn't how its supposed to happen...Atlanteans are all good guys right? Like super heroes.....

"Stop standing there, Garrett! Get outta here!" John called as he started rushing people out the door. Garrett held his head in his hands.

No....no, Zac isn't supposed to be a bad guy! We were gonna hang out on this trip...and be friends? Dammit! I have to stop him...I'm a super hero! Well, No....but I am an Atlantean! That's gotta mean something. I shouldn't let this happen!

Garrett dramatically stepped up from the people watching, and walked over too Zac.

So this is what it is like to be Spider-man as he steps up to save citizens from Doctor Octopus....Oh god, everybody is looking at me, aren't they?

"What the hell are you doing, Garrett?" Someone called from the crowd. It wasn't John....so another student? Anyways, Garrett ignored him.

He quickened his pace, trying to cut out the awkward slow walk he had been doing. He imagined himself as Batman approaching the Joker and stopped. He made sure he was out of Zac's claw range. He gulped. What if Zac fought him? How would adaptability help in this situation? Garrett hit his hands together, trying to harden his skin in case he had to punch something. Actually, lets face it. Garrett probably wasn't going to be able to take out Zac. A peaceful approach was best. Well, here goes nothing.

"Uhh, hey, Zac. Wh-whats wrong, man? Why'd you hurt these guys?"

​

 

[Skymin]

Julian Morales - Picadilly Square, London, England

"I'm Leo Archibald. Nice to meet you. So... what're you doing here? Just passing through, or...?"

"Nice to meet you too, Leo," Julian had to swap hands as he had extended his right arm. No matter, he continued to smile as he pulled back his left and used it to sip his coffee again. "No, I live here in London. I'd ask you if you lived here, but your accent seems to say otherwise." He gave a small chuckle, placing his coffee back on the table.

"No, I'm actually here to see you, Mr. Archibald. I'm an Atlantean too," he unbuttoned his button up shirt under his trench coat and opened it to reveal his tattoo; a set of tribal wings. I'm from an organisation known as the Atlantean Unification Project. We strive to unite Atlanteans as a whole. We've been watching you the past few days and we would be honored if you would join our cause."

He was about to start his pitch when there was crash and screaming from the direction of the Science Museum, which was only just adjacent through the square. Julian turned his head and stood up, trying to get a better view. When he arched his head a little, he saw something that was uncomparable to anything he had seen in his 27 years of life. A boy who looked like a monster was the best he had.

"No one can stop me!" the boy yelled.

Julian pulled his phone out of his pocket and quick-dialed Annie's emergency number. He looked back at Leo with a sad frown.

"Sorry, I don't mean to be rude. There's just a complication, if you can see," gesturing towards the Science Museum.

Click! "Hello, Julian? What's wrong?"

"Annie? Oh good. I'd suggest you put a satellite image on me right now."

"Okay, okay... wait a sec. Yep, I see you. And... oh holy crap. Holy... okay. Awesome. This is great. Totally great. Okay, thanks JUlian. I'll send people right away."

"Thanks very much, Annie. "​

 

[Retro Bug]

Delta Mayor - National Science Museum, London, England

A small squeak was made when Delta left the wooden bench. Her heels easily crushed the flowers, dirt clumps, and leafs that crossed its path. She was getting tired and wasn't quite sure what to do in London. Nathan had mentioned something about a National Science Museum that wasn't too far from where she was. Delta moved at a very quick pace to avoid any people that might want to stop her and ask for directions. Hell, she was a tourist herself and while she was sitting at the bench four people asked her to locate Piccadilly Square for them. A shiver ran through her body as a breeze brushed passed her. The leather jacket she had on kept her mostly warm but she got cold very easily.

The museum's a nice quiet place for the most part there are the occasion school kids who made a fuss. Delta stayed at an interesting exhibit she wasn't quite sure what it was called but it had to deal with skin elasticity. The thought of crystallizing her skin right here came and went because it was a dumb idea. First, she had refused to registration so she could be sent jail for her clear disobedience. A firm tugged was made at her gloves to make sure they were on she knew she couldn't take any chances.

"Why do you look and act like a freak?" Delta looked through the glass of her exhibit to see a young boy being pushed around by his mates. Well, they weren't really his mates since they were clearly being rude. A thought to step in occurred to Delta but she was too old to be getting involved in school fights. That didn't stop her from inching closer towards the action just to make sure the kid didn't get too hurt.

"I hate you all!" The events that followed shocked even Delta since she hadn't ever seen another Atlantean before but he was definitely one. Bones pushed out from under his skin as if they had a life of their own, truly a grotesque sight. The boy lashed out with all the rage he had bottled up which seriously injured the other lads. Delta breathed in and crystallized her entire right arm she knew no matter what she had to stop this kid from hurting any more people. He had gone psychotic and Delta had a feeling he wouldn't stop unless he was forced.

Another boy arrived on scene or rather Delta just noticed him there. He seemed scared and he was talking to the crazed boy apparently named Zac. Delta didn't care this kid needed to be stopped he had just sliced the telephone lines. Her leather jacket flew in the air, a safe distance away from her. It would only get in her way if she was going to fight this kid. She removed her right hand glove but kept the left one on. The crystallized, right arm sparkled when the sunlight reflected off of it. She needed to get his attention so she slipped her fingers down to her waist and pulled out a throwing knife.

"Settle down, Zac!" At the end of the sentence Delta threw the knife at the back of his head as she was standing behind him.
​

 

[Sir Bastian]

Leo Archibald
Picadilly Square, London, England​

"Huh? What do you mean you're here to see m-" Leo cut himself off as the man unbuttoned his shirt and pulled it slightly aside, revealing a tattoo on his chest, Leo's brows raising in surprise, his mouth hanging slightly open. It looked different to his own, but there was something familiar over it. The way the lines curved and the specific… flare to it, was the only thing he could manage to come up with. There was just something really familiar about it.

He looked up at the man again, furrowing his brows a little as he listened to him speaking of the "Atlantean Unification Project". As he spoke, Leo reached out with his left hand, grasping the back of his right, seemingly by instinct. Suddenly, the crash and screams erupted from the science museum, Leo turning his head to see a monster of a boy, lashing out at everyone who came too close.

Leo almost fell back over the chair and onto his arse, his eyes widened in fear, shock and amazement as he looked from the boy, to Julian who was now speaking on the phone with someone. He quickly looked back at the boy, who seemed to have one person trying to calm him down, and another… supposedly throwing a knife at him.

He quickly looked back to Julian with a soft of helpless desperation in his eyes.
"We… we have to do something, don't we? Don't you have some kind of powers? We can't just let him hurt all of those people!" He looked back towards the boy, grasping the edge of the table, his knuckles going slightly white from the firm grip. He wanted to go help, he really did. He hated seeing innocent people suffering, but… the boy was a –monster-. What could he do, other than get torn to shreds?

 

[Swolligator]

Zac Willard - National Science Museum, London, England

"You know why!" Zac roared at Garrett, "everyday the taunt and bully me, you've seen it yourself but you refuse to step in and help! I've had enough, they deserve it all!" Zac was infuriated beyond the point of no control. All he wanted was to hurt the bullies and everyone around him; people who hadn't stepped in to help, and make them feel the same pain he did.

He turned around when someone else called his name, noticing the dagger fly through the air yet bounce of harmlessly from his scaled jaw. This newcomer was female and had a crystal arm and was a lot more aggressive than Garrett.

"Come at me!" Zac challenged the girl as scaled plating began growing from out of his spine, creating a protective cover for his spine from the base of his neck down to his coccyx with two upward facings spikes on each plate. The plates seemed to come from each vertebrae, the top plate protecting the vertebrae below it.​

Daniel 'The Directive' Cain, Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

For the umpteenth time today, Daniel's phone vibrated angrily in his pocket, prompting him to answer it on his way down to see the progress the recruits we having. At first glance, the number was unknown to him, yet when he picked up, the familiar voice reminded him of who it was. He had no time to say anything as the person on the other end rapidly dove in with a whole pile of information.

"Good job," was his only remark when the person finished, and he hung up the call.

Stepping into the cool laboratory made wearing a suit that much more bearable. With his informant giving them the information this early meant that the Syndicate would only be a few minutes behind the Royal Family. He felt something knock him to the side as Fletcher ran crying out of the Lab; he would have to send Jeremy off to go calm the kid down. He wouldn't have been at all surprised if Leon was the one that had caused Fletcher to run off.

He found the remainder of the new recruits in the break room, chatting and eating during their intermission from training. As he stepped in he cleared his throat in an effort to garner the attention of all within. Once there was silence, he began speaking, "For some of you this is your first day training, others just one of many. Well for those new recruits of ours, we have your first assignment. I have just obtained information from a reliable source that the Royal Family, an enemy of ours, is heading to London to intercept a 'demon', most likely a rogue Atlantean. In twenty minutes, Adrian will take you up to the helicopter pad where you will take a flight down to London to beat them to it. Jeremy, you are staying here, please go settle down young Fletcher."

Jeremy nodded in agreement before disappearing into thin air to go search for the small child in the Syndicate building.

"If you have any questions, Adrian will answer them for you. Put your training to good use." Daniel finished his mini speech before exiting to go talk to Joshua about the statistics from the latest training session.​

Adrian Santoro - Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

Once the Directive had left, Adrian spoke up "Okay guys, same drill as before, finish what you are eating, then head up to floor 8 and get into some clothes more suited for being out in public that will allow you to fight as well. Once you have done that, meet me on floor 34 where we will enter the helicopter and set off. Like the Directive said, you have twenty minutes."

Adrian brought his plate to the bench, rinsing it before placing his plate and October's in the dishwasher. He left with October to go put on his more causal gear. Back in the room, he removed the sweaty training clothes and put on his specifically designed shirt. Designed and manufactured by Joshua, it fit Adrian perfectly, moulding to his newly formed body and bone structure; as well as two extra holes for his second pair of arms. A new pair of track pants and Adrian was ready, turning around to see October in her 'battle' suit. No doubt Joshua would get around to making suits for the new recruits.

The two then finished ahead of time and headed up to the hanger on floor 34 where they waited for the rest of the new recruits to arrive, taking the time alone to make out for a bit before the others arrived.​

 

[SV]

Leon Nef- Syndicate Heaquarters, Birmingham, England

Leon was still smirking, even after Jericho's comments to him. He was in a moment of sweet revelation and thrill, something that had started ever since he had gotten his power, and with every hour that passed, it seemed to grow. This recent event only piled on the continuous feelings Leon had been experiencing. These types of feelings rarely made their presence known in his previous endeavors outside of the Syndicate. This wasn't to say that Leon wasn't a happy person outside, but he never experienced this high level of invulnerability as he did now. He was in great place both mentally and physically, as his training had been showing.

"Oh, don't be jealous, Jeri. I'm sure you'll get a chance to have a fantastic revelation someday as well." Leon said to Jericho, taking another bite of his apple as he leaned back in his chair and put his head up to relax. Then he heard the clearing of a throat come from the door, and found the Directive standing there. Leon put his head up to see the message he had to give, but kept his feet on the table and relaxed as he did so, only paying the man enough attention as he wanted to, but as he began explaining more, Leon perched up and listened.

A demon? Leon thought to himself, trying to make out what it meant. Looks like they were about to find out. The Directive left, and Adrian began speaking about where to meet and where they'd head off to. Leon leaned over to Jericho.

"Never mind. Looks like you're not gonna get a chance at having that fantastic revelation after all." He said to him with a smile, alluding to Jericho most likely going to die on their first mission out. He took another bite of the apple before leaving the break room, and heading back to his room.

Once inside, Leon hopped in for a quick, refreshing cold shower. It was a polar opposite picture inside of his room now than earlier in the morning, where he was sluggish and indolent. Now he did everything with precision and speed to match, as if he were possessed, or a machine. It was probably the excitement of the upcoming mission. He didn't know why, but he felt like something really big was going to happen, and Leon couldn't wait to be right in the middle of it.

He walked over to his closet, remembering Adrian said to put on comfortable clothes for fighting. Leon decided to go with his usual set anyways, deciding that his normal style was 'comfortable' enough for any occasion. He grabbed a pair of jeans and then put on a blue collared shirt, rolling up the sleeves to the elbows. Making sure his hair was alright in the mirror, Leon took off to the designated area.

Leon walked to the elevator with an air of confidence around him. He had a smirk on his face which seemed never to go away since he was in the break room. He felt like he had an impenetrable shield of armor around him that could stop knives and redirect bullets. It was an odd feeling of invulnerability he possessed, but Leon truly felt like nothing bad could happen now. It was an amazing turnaround of events for a day which didn't start off that great. He felt that no matter what came up this day, he could overcome it. Through his walk, he somehow revived memories of his first fight in the forest, but unlike on his first night when he would have literally done anything to keep the memories in the back of his mind, today, he didn't mind thinking about them as much. Instead, he now embraced the memory. He hoped to harness the adrenaline he had at that moment, and use it here if need be. Leon remembered thinking that he how difficult it was to come to the decision of killing those four Atlanteans. He had to find any possible justification that it had to be done. Now, the prospect of having to harm or even kill someone didn't seem like such a bad thing anymore. It was strange to have such a drastic change in one's morals and ideals in only a few days. But truth be told, Leon didn't really believe he had changed much. He still thought he was the same person he was before he had gotten the tattoo, and before the forest. The only real difference now was that he believed in whatever he wanted to believe, not in what society deemed right to believe. And Leon felt much better for it.

The ding of the elevator rang, and Leon stepped out on the 34th floor, where he saw a large hanger of sorts, and Adrian and October kissing. Leon silently walked up behind them. He got close enough and then leaned on the hanger wall, crossing his arms before clearing his throat to let them know he was there. "Hi." Leon said casually to them. "Don't mind me. I'm just standing here, minding my own business." Leon looked at October's 'battle' suit she had on. "What the hell are you wearing?"

 

[The warden]

Archie Stevens - Syndicate HQ

Jeremy's reaction was to expel his meal form his mouth scattering the table with traces of food, as he broke into a laugh. Was it really that unlikely for Jeremy to be Fletcher's dad or was Jeremy younger than Archie had first thought. He had spent the past day assuming that Jeremy was older than him, mainly based upon his personality, his confidence. But now that he examined him more closely he could see that he was around his own age, it was the first time that he gotten a good look at Jeremy, he had just been so busy since he had gotten here, even yesterday when they were just talking because everyone had arrived.


Jeremy stated that he wasn't Fletcher's father, something that Archie had already picked up, and that his brother was one of them who was away... This upset Fletcher and he conjured up a blue bubble around himself, part of his ability which was one of the few Archie had yet to figure out. Jeremy tried to appeal to Fletcher that his brother was fine but the young boy was already too upset and he ran form the room. Archie was surprised that Jeremy didn't chase after Fletcher, he just added that his brother wasn't something he should bring up again.


"So, what's your story?" Jeremy asked quite casually. By this point Archie had finished his sandwich and was picking at his salad.


"I would have thought you would have at least found out a bit about me before kidnapping me." He gave Jeremy a serious look. "You know just check that I'm not a mad axe man or something." He laughed slightly. "Well, I was a smart kid, I had a loving family. A few brothers and sisters. We were all quite clever when we were little, it was probably because of our parents. I can't remember a time when I wasn't top of my classes until I reached secondary school. That said I got bored a lot and caused quite a bit of trouble. I got into music, that helped but it didn't keep me from getting sent out of class. First I learnt to play the violin, but later I picked up the keyboard and guitar. As I played more music I spent less time studying and dropped behind in my studies but I could still breeze the exams."


Archie didn't even notice the Directive enter the room and was alarmed when he cleared his throat. The Directive gave them instructions, something about a rouge Atlantean or a Demon and told them that Adrian would take charge. It seemed that within this group Adrian was the leader. Then he sent Jeremy to find Fletcher.


"Some other time." Was all Archie got chance to say before Jeremy teleported away. The Directive left and Adrian stood up taking charge of the group. When he had finished he rinsed his and October's dishes and put them in the dish washer. Archie followed suit, clearing his plate and heading up to the dorms, which was quite continently marked in the lift. He wasn't sure he would have been able to find his way back if it wasn't and was rather worried what the consequences of wandering around Syndicate HQ could be.


As he opened the door to his room he notice that his belongings had arrived. He had expected them to be packed in boxes but instead it placed around the room. Further examination revealed something quite creepy about the placement of his belongings. They were arranged in practically the same manner they had been in his flat back at university. Almost as though the person who moved the items took photographs of everything and placed it in a corresponding place in this room. Yet still there was something wrong and it wasn't the placement of the furniture. The furniture was in the wrong place, you would have to shove the bed against that wall, move the desk there, the door to his en-suite was on the wrong wall. No that wasn't it, it was the exact placement of every item, they weren't how he had left them, there were unpacked and put in the correct places but put their neatly. Objects were aligned with each other, and things weren't a mess. It reminded him of being at home and his mum cleaning his room, in a very unsettling way. He checked the wardrobe and found most of his clothes were in there, what wasn't was in the chest of draws below. Another thing disturbed him, his boxers, they were folded and ironed. He hadn't had his boxer shorts folded since before he had left home. A student wasn't meant to live like this. At some point he would have to sort this room into something he could bear to live in and get new boxers because he was now very disturbed by the ones in his draw. But for now he had wasted enough time already. At least he could find solace in the fact that his i-pod had arrived. Over the last day he had missed this thing more than anything else, his world had been monochrome without it, devoid of all beauty and grace. He put it on, letting the music play aloud, it was one of his favourite songs, as he continued to inspect his room. He checked his room over for his mobile, which he had left in there this morning but it wasn't there. It seemed the Syndicate had confiscated it either they didn't want him contacting the outside world or The Directive had a collection of stolen mobiles.


While he had the chance he got a shower. As he took of his jumpsuit he considered throwing it in the bin but decided that was too good for it. As he rinsed away the morning's grime under the hot water he decided upon burning the jumpsuit at the first opportunity he got. Who know if this helipad is on the roof maybe he would get the chance when he went up there. If not London would surely give him the opportunity. He stepped out of the shower and glanced at his clock in his bedroom, he still had ten minutes to get ready. Quickly he dried himself and got on some clothes suitable for appearing in public in i.e. not a jumpsuit. To be exact he wore a pair of jeans and one of his plainest t-shirts, which was bright green and had a large logo on it. Archie didn't do plain. Before he left he picked up his i-pod and plugged in his headphones, by the time he got to the lift he was rocking away music blaring. In one hand he carried the jumpsuit and a lighter.


No what floor was it again, he asked himself as he looked at the buttons on the lift control panel. Was it 34, yes. He pressed the button before continuing to rock on, playing an imaginary guitar as a substitute for his real one. His music obscured the chime of the lift as he arrived on the 34th floor but the doors rolled open and he stopped playing his air guitar. He removed his head phones and stepped out into a hanger of sorts, a helicopter was waiting for them near by and close to it were some of the others. He hoped that he would be able to see where they were during the trip, though he knew they had to be in or close to Britain he didn't yet know exactly where they were. He heard Leon asking what October was wearing and though the same question himself. Casually he walked over to the others, it seemed that October, Adrian and Leon were the only ones here thus far.


"You know that's the most intelligent thing you've said all day Leon." Archie said, as he approached. "That's why I brought this." He held up the earphones for his i-pod. "So I don't have to listen to you all the way to London, Thunder Gob."


"Yeah how come you get those?" Archie asked October and Adrian, particularity admiring October's "suit". "All I got was this c****y jumpsuit." He held up the jumpsuit for all to see, despite the fact they had all seen him wearing it earlier.

 

[Swolligator]

October Carter - Syndicate HQ, Birmingham, England

October turned up her nose at the arrival of Leon and Archie, hoping to have a lot more time alone with Adrian. "This," she pointed to the suit she had clad on, "is a specially made battle suit for me by Joshua. If you survive this assignment, then you might get a battle suit too." October smirked, she really hoped that at least one of the new recruits would die; it was much better when it was only Adrian and herself.

She scanned the faces before her as their gangly weird girl Erika joined them, noticing that they had one less recruit. Once Jericho was here, they would lift off, but a quick look at her watch showed that he had little time to get up here before they left off without him.

October watched as Erika walked over and sat in the Bell UH-1 Iroquois helicopter and buckled herself in avoiding contact with everyone. October scowled at the weird girl before turning her attention back to the guys. "Once that Jericho-kid gets here, Adrian will fly us to London." Beaming at the achievement of her boyfriend.

"I was an airforce pilot back in Brazil, I know what I'm doing. It will take us an hour to an hour and a half to get to London through the skies, quicker than in car." While Adrian had been in England for a couple of months already, he still found speaking English hard, more so through his accent. He stretched his arms, feeling muscles old and new stretch.​

 

[Arctos]

John Harker - Cafe overlooking South Kensington Underground Station

---Present Day---
The coffee was strong and bitter, just how he liked it. John sat by the window in the coffee shop watching the world go by. The entrance to South Kensington Underground was directly across the road giving John plenty to watch from the comfortable leather chair he was relaxing in. As he stared at the world outside John raised his cup to his lips once more and found it empty. Sighing he set the cup down and sat up. His jeans tightened as he changed position and the cold metal of the two balisongs pressed against his leg through the thin pocket material. A quick glance around revealed the only other person present was a young bored looking girl behind the counter . A news reporter chatted away on the television as John reached into his pocket and removed one of the butterfly knives. He opened one side slowly and ran the blade along his right index finger until the skin gave way. Returning the blade to his pocket he began to idly drip blood into his empty cup.
Once the cut had stopped bleeding he began to practise his ability. The blood danced in the cup, joining together, splitting apart, floating upwards and plummeting down. As john did this his mind went back to his discovery of his power and the events of this last, eventful week.

--- Just over a week earlier - College Grove RVC Student Accomodation, Camden, London, England ---
John leant over the sink as he ran his shaver over the dark stubble covering his chin. The only light to see by was that of a television flickering in the other room and a small shaving light above the mirror. The ad break had come to an end and the signature theme of BBC News began to play.

Spoiler:

​

John continued shaving, drawing the shaver from the base of his neck to below his chin. The news reporter's voice could be heard faintly from where he stood, "….we go live to the Press Conference with the Atlantean Royal Family..." John could not hear any more and was not interested enough to move or strain to hear.
A few minutes later his right arm began to burn. The pain was so sudden, so sharp that his muscles contracted. The razor blade cut into the soft skin of his neck. His shaver broke as it hit the floor. John brought his right arm up to stare at what was causing him such intense pain. The black lines seemed to seep through his skin leaving only pain. The pain felt as if he was being branded bit by bit. Then it was over. An ankh tattoo covered his inner right forearm and palm and blood now covered John's torso and the white, porcelain sink. "****," John swore as he found some toilet tissue to stem the flow of blood from his neck. As he clutched the white tissue to the cut the blood seemed to stop instantly, that which covered his torso flowed upwards and leapt through the air to seep into the white paper he held. "What the...," he was dumbstruck at what he thought had just happened, staring at the now crimson tissue in his hand.

---Present Day---
John snapped out of his reverie, cursing himself for not paying attention in case others had seen him. He had not registered as an Atlantean and a lapse in concentration like that would be all that would be needed to have him arrested. After a quick glance around he went back to focusing on practising his skill. The blood had congealed but with as he concentrated the colour lightened and the clot became liquid once more. The centre of the pool rose and the liquid became the rough shape of a woman. The figure was only barely recognisable as human but the amount of concentration John required for such an action was evident as beads of sweat formed on his forehead. The woman's shape became clear for a second before screaming cut through John's thoughts and she fell back into a shapeless pool once more. As John peered from the window he saw a throng of people fighting to enter the underground.
John struggled to walk against the crowd as people almost pushed him down in their panic to flee. The National Science Museum came into view within a few minutes of brisk walking. People still rushed from the entrance but the number was low compared to the amount John had fought through earlier. He ran for the doors.
As he burst through the doors John came into the entrance hall which was full of steam engines of varying sizes. "The energy hall" a large sign proclaimed. These were not what caught his eye however. Two people stood at the centre of the room facing a third who was off to one side. One seemed to be part reptile and had blood dripping from his claws, another was a normal looking boy who looked terrified and the third was a girl who arms was obscured by glare shining from something she must have been wearing. John took in this scene slowly, leant against the wall and watched. Watching was what he did and this was much more interesting than watching people on their commute. His hand found one of the butterfly knives and he began to play with it as he waited to see what would happen next.

 

[Lt. Col. Fantastic]

Garrett Flynn - Natural Science Museum, London, England

"You know why!" Zac roared at Garrett, "everyday the taunt and bully me, you've seen it yourself but you refuse to step in and help! I've had enough, they deserve it all!" 

Well crap. Now I feel terrible. I really had no idea this was going on, or I would have helped. Would I? I...I think so. Yeah, I definitely would have. Well sh*t. Who's the *sshole now? But....Zac. He's outta control. I gotta stop him...but how?! He'd finish me off without a second thought. But...I don't want to hurt him! We're friends....I should talk this throug-

Suddenly, a knife bounced off of Zac's reptile skin.

"Settle down, Zac!" A girl called out. Garrett looked past Zac to see a girl with a diamond arm. Apparently she was the thrower of said weapon. Zac turned and grinned. He challenged the girl with a "Come at me!" A new plate began growing from his spine, then another, and another. Soon, his entire back was covered in the thick plating, with spikes protruding from each plate. Garrett froze. The new girl had just started a fight, if he wasn't mistaken.

****, oh ****, **** **** ****!

Garrett stood frozen, too scared to move. Seconds later, he heard a noise. The doors burst open, and he assumed people had run away. He still had an overriding curiosity, however, and turned to look. He thought he saw a person, but it disappeared. Blinking a few times, he quickly turned back to Zac. His morph had just completed, and his back was turned to Garrett. He was focusing on the girl. This was Garrett's chance. Garrett considered the thought of a bear hug to hold him, but the spikes in his back looked too deadly to try and grabbing. A punch maybe? No, he'd be too well protected by his face armor and counter with his claws. Maybe a throw? Push? Damn. Everything above his waist was covered by his ability. His lower body was unprotected, however....

Garrett yelled.

Oh, god, what am I doing?! Oh, man, can't stop now!

He let go, and stopped thinking. Hard pressed, he ran towards Zac and went for a slide tackle/sweeper kick to knock over Zac. The resulting disaster was Garrett falling right on his ass behind Zac. Dazed, he sat there like an idiot for a second or two. Then he freaked out. Garrett scrambled and flailed about to get up, and managed to somewhat quickly get back on his hands and knees. His glasses slid off, and his legs crushed them in his blunder. His ability kicked in, and his eyesight went back to perfect. In a calmer time, he would have remarked on the practicality of this, but he had more pressing matters. He started to try and crawl/scamper away quickly, before Zac could get his hands on him.​

 

[Retro Bug]

Delta Mayor - National Science Museum, London, England

"Come at me!" The knife had bounced off Zac but Delta wasn't expecting it to do much just draw his attention to her and that much had worked. Delta wasn't one to turn down a challenge but this guy was a monster. Boo hoo, he got made fun of at school that's no reason to go on a rampage. Apparently the other kid knew Zac and they seemed to be friends, not very good ones though. His entire back was now covered in armored plating which left little room for weaknesses. Zac had only done his upper body and not much of his lower body so that could be one area to strike.

"You're really going to fight a lady?" Her voiced mimicked one of those snobby, uppity, rich girls who tended to think too much of themselves. Though, Delta had never lost a fight and she wasn't going to start now.

She needed to strategize if she was ever going to take down this beast. The other boy who she assumed was a regular civilian was just in the way. His bones, or armor or whatever it was had to have a weak spot and it wasn't on his back. Before she had time to clearly think about the situation the other boy charged at Zac, typical male. Unfortunately, he decided to launch an attack that launched him into the ground. Delta disliked caring for others but if this boy ended up dead it would burden her for a while. His glasses flew clear off his face, which meant he was most likely useless now more so than he was before. Great, all of these civilians she had to worry about and now this kid.

She rushed over to the boy, "What's your name? Nevermind, try not to do stupid things like that again. Okay? Get out of here you're only in the way." Delta stood in front of the boy incase he needed protection from Zac. She brought both her arms together vertically in front of her like a shield. Then she crystallized them both, which made them larger than her regular arms and more like a shield, she wasn't sure if she could embrace an attack from Zac. She then noticed another boy lingering in the back just watching, this wasn't some circus show what was he doing?!​

 

[Legend]

Christian Calaway- Atlantean Mansion, Boston, England

"You seem to be getting better with your ability," Antonia said to Christian as he continued to stretch his inflexible body.

"Well, to be fair, it doesn't take much to improve on a talent that is barely there," he replied with a meek smile. At heart, he welcomed the compliment needing the confidence. And he did agree with her, even if he outwardly dismissed the kind words. The training helped a lot though Thalia's lessons were hard to implement given Christian's disposition. Regardless, Thalia would know better than he would. He already tried for one week to get a grip on the powers and all he managed to do was blow up a wall, botch a rescue mission and barely impress a girl. It was only after training that he felt he had any control. Now it was matter of taking it to the next level.

Antonia was about to speak when River motioned everyone when Cobalt stepped into the room. "Looks like River needs us," she said. Christian nodded and followed Antonia over to their mentors.

"What's wrong, Cobalt?"

"Oracle just made a prediction. Your team and Blayze's. Thalia's gone to collect Blayze's team, follow me so we can give them the briefing on their first mission."

"Geez, Cobalt, they've barely been here twenty-four hours, I highly doubt they are ready to face a mission"

"Oracle predicted. They're needed."

Without a further world, Cobalt turned around and walked away. Whatever was happening was serious.

"Okay guys, sorry to cut training short, but it looks like we're needed," She smiled enthusiastically, which put off Christian. How the hell were they to succeed in any mission? Sure, Christian, Antonia and Chrysta all did fairly well in their training demonstrating some impressive skills and displaying the basics of teamwork but at best they were inconsistent. He didn't like the sound of it, but Christian kept his thoughts to himself. It seemed it he was the de facto leader and a leader needed to be composed and ready for anything. That is what he needed to do.

River led the group to the meeting room, before Blayze and the others. Christian took a seat, parking himself near the center of the room close to the wooden table. Antonia grabbed a seat close to him, shuffling over cuddling up into Christian's exposed grab as his other hand griping his jacket. Of course, Christian had little idea what to do at this point. He leaned a bit into her, doing his best to enjoy the brief moment. Chrysta took a seat behind them, and as Christian turned around to check on her, a slight smile crept onto her face, amused by his flushed face. Christian took a deep breath and sighed, before smiling. Maybe this wasn't too bad.

Michael, Oakley and Kieran (the team from hell) walked into the room and took their respective seats before Cobalt began to speak: "This is all a new experience for you, and I'm sorry that this is so soon, but the way things work around here is how it is. Yesterday you met the Oracle, our Prophetess, who tells us when people are needed for future events to happen. In the next couple of hours, she mentioned some sort of demon will attack London city, and that you two teams are meant to be present." Cobalt cleared his throat, "as such, we will fly you by helicopter to London where you will hopefully meet your task. Be warned; this is not a training exercise, this is a real situation and running in by yourself will only get you killed."

Christian's face twisted a bit in frustration. If this was so imperative of a mission, why send in rookies? No, that was a stupid question. It was given that the Oracle called the shots around here and she said these teams had to do it. A tactical mind would send it someone like River or Blayze as not only where they experienced but their powers were effective in combat. The only thing that could ease his mind was that Christian looked at as a test and an opportunity to prove himself. He just hoped that no one would get hurt before he got there.

"Sorry to interrupt," Blayze interjected. "but Michael's actions this morning have proved he is incapable of mature decisions. I suggest that he stays behind while the others go on ahead, so he can realise the full consequences of his actions."

Good.

That's a bit harsh, don't you think?" River spoke in response.

No.

"No, it's not," Blayze retorted, "if it was any other student, they would be faced with the same response. Just because he's new doesn't mean he's off the hook."

Thank you, but I still don't like you.

"I'm afraid Blayze is right, River, it's a fair enough punishment. As for that, I bid you all luck, and may the light of the universe protect you." Cobalt hurriedly left the room, probably to take care of something else that was important."Blayze, he's always going to take your side!" River said angrily, "You're being too-"

"River, I'm not having this argument now," he interrupted her, "guys, we'll be flying by helicopter, so get ready and meet us on the rooftop helipad in ten minutes."

Christian nodded and was ready to get up, but Antonia kept him planted in the chair. "Hey, we should head up."

Antonia snuggled up into his arm. "I'm comfortable."

"You can be comfortable later. I promise."

"But.."

"No buts!" Christian lightly brushed up against her. "We'll be fine. Trust me."

Antonia smiled and let go. "I'll see you at the helipad then. You too, Chrysta." Everyone in his group nodded and smiled, seemingly ready to be a team. They ran back to their rooms and prepared themselves. Christian didn't do much to prepare, just put his jacket on, removed his gloves (he wasn't riding his bike after all) and fixed up his hair, noticing his grey streaks were becoming a bit more prevalent. Christian winced at the thought of going grey by 30. It was a grim thought.

He ran up the stairs and surprisingly was the first to board the helicopter. Or maybe it wasn't so surprising. Antonia and Chrysta followed and soon enough the helicopter was in the air.

Mission start.

 

[TornZero]

Cira Gaile - Fiuminicio International Airport, Italy

Short introductions from a man who could be James' older brother (or at least in looks) aside, the Librarian showed off a quirk of changing names on apparently a daily basis. Sorry, he's Cornelius now, right? Would Corny be okay? Nah. Cira's father, in the meantime, picked up a local snack. Alex was always more comfortable flying when he wasn't on an empty stomach, and just knowing he was in an airport got him peckish.

When the small group was led into the plane, said group quickly doubled in size. Many of them looked like they were either teenagers or in their early twenties, and it could be assumed Cooper was, too. Gestured to each one by Mr. Bernot, Cira remembered who was whom, and when he himself was introduced he simply nodded to everyone inside.

Soon enough, everyone was told to take their seats by what sounded like a disembodied Cooper, since no one's mouths were moving, and he said something that seemed completely asinine: "Next stop, New Atlantis!" That said, given the fact that likely billions of people attained superpowers over the past week, nothing's really out-of-bounds anymore. Even when Helena jokingly asked if they somehow built a new Atlantis, Cira couldn't help but add a touch of "nothing's impossible except impossibility."

"It's definitely not something to rule out when we look at everything that's happened so far, right?"​